All Episodes 161: Your Life Isn’t Overcrowded — Your Standards Are Underdeveloped
161: Your Life Isn’t Overcrowded — Your Standards Are Underdeveloped
Most people think they’re overwhelmed because they have too much to do. In this episode, Chris breaks down the uncomfortable truth: overwhelm isn’t a schedule problem — it’s a standards problem. When your standards are low, everything gets in. Low-quality habits, low-quality commitments, and low-quality boundaries start running your life, and you end up exhausted without understanding why.
Through stories from the dojo, leadership lessons, and the realities of parenting, Chris reveals how raising your standards simplifies your life instantly. You’ll learn the four standards that shape your time, energy, environment, and identity — and why improving just one of them will create immediate clarity and momentum.
If you’ve been feeling stretched thin, unfocused, or constantly behind, this episode will give you the truth you’ve been avoiding and the framework you actually need.
Your life isn’t overcrowded.
Your standards are underdeveloped.
And changing that starts today.
The Hidden Reason You're Overwhelmed (It's Not Your Schedule) | A Standards-Based Framework for Clarity
Most people think they're drowning in responsibilities. Too many tasks, too many demands, too many plates spinning. We blame our calendars, our jobs, our families.
But the truth is tougher than that.
"Your life isn't overcrowded. Your standards are underdeveloped."
This is the counterintuitive, uncomfortable truth we're confronting today. Overwhelmed isn't a scheduling problem. It's a standards problem. Every moment tests you, and the test is this: what will you accept into the limited space of your time, energy, and attention?
The Real Culprit: Your Filter is Wide Open
When people feel overwhelmed, the story is always the same: "I have a lot going on. My schedule is insane." But after years of coaching students, parents, and professionals, I’ve seen the pattern. Most people aren't overwhelmed by quantity. They're overwhelmed by their low standards.
"Low standards allow low habits, low quality commitments, low time use, low boundaries, low quality relationships, and low quality self-talk," as I explained in the episode. People become caretakers of their own chaos. It’s not that life is too full; it’s that their filter—their personal standards—is broken, letting everything in.
Think about it:
The person who's "too busy" for the gym but spends two hours doomscrolling.
The student drowning in work because they have no plan or structure.
The professional who misses opportunities because they feel too swamped to take on more.
We blame the schedule, but the schedule isn't the problem. "Their standard for showing up is the problem."
What a Standard Really Is (And Isn't)
Before we fix it, we have to define it. A standard is not a vague intention or a hopeful wish. It's a line in the sand.
"A standard is a line that you do not cross, a line that you do not let others cross," I said. "It's the baseline behavior for what you accept of yourself and... what you accept from the world around you."
Think of standards as your life's filter. A low-standard filter is wide open. Every request, distraction, low-energy habit, and other person's emergency floods in. A high-standard filter is selective. It only allows what is meaningful, aligned, and valuable to pass through.
"When somebody feels perpetually overwhelmed, it's a sign that their filter is wide open." They haven't learned to protect their time, energy, or identity.
The Martial Arts Blueprint: Standards Are Trained, Not Granted
My dojo is a living lab for this principle. A student doesn't succeed because they learn cool moves. They succeed because their standards rise with each promotion.
A white belt’s standard might be showing up once a week and trying to survive the class. A black belt’s standard is showing up consistently, fully focused, and holding themselves accountable to perfect the fundamentals. "Nothing changed on these two levels except for their standard."
This is the crucial insight: High-level performers in any field aren't overwhelmed because their high standards automatically eliminate the sloppiness and distractions that drain energy. The chaos gets filtered out at the door.
Your 4-Point Standards Audit: Where to Raise the Bar
Raising your standards isn't about being rigid. It's about being intentional. Let's apply this to four practical areas of your life.
1. Standards for Your TIME
You get to decide what does and doesn't get on your calendar. The key is establishing non-negotiables. "If everything is optional, then it all becomes chaotic," I noted. Is that morning workout a non-negotiable? Is protected family time? Is an hour of strategic planning? Decide, schedule it, and guard it like a contract with your future self.
2. Standards for Your ENERGY
This is about protecting your attention, mental space, and emotional bandwidth. "Stop giving energy to things that don't deserve it," I urged. What conversations, news cycles, or social media loops are you allowing to drain you? Your energy is a finite resource. A high standard means investing it only in what fuels your mission and well-being.
3. Standards for Your ENVIRONMENT
Your physical space reveals your internal standards. "If you have a cluttered home life, if you have a cluttered work area, then that all tells me that you have indecision," I observed. Noise, clutter, and disorganization are all forms of visual and mental noise that drain focus. High performers shape their environment to support their goals; they don't let a chaotic environment shape them.
4. Standards for Your IDENTITY (The Deepest Layer)
This is the most powerful level. It’s not "what life do I want?" but "what kind of person am I choosing to be today?""Identity standards determine everything because you will always act in alignment with who you believe you are." If you identify as a disciplined person, skipping the gym becomes a violation of your standard. If you identify as a focused professional, reactive busywork feels off. You get to choose this.
The Ripple Effect: Standards at Home and Work
This isn't just personal; it's relational. As a parent of three, I see this daily. Kids may not follow directions perfectly, but they are masterful at following examples.
"Your kids are emulating you... If you are chaotic, if you're overwhelmed all the time, then the kids are going to be the same way," I shared. The choice is stark: model overwhelm and have it reflected back tenfold, or model calm, intentional standards. It might feel like "faking it" at first, but you do it because they deserve that example. Leadership at home starts with the standard you set for your own composure.
At work, the same applies. "Leadership isn't about authority. It's about consistency," I said. In a crisis, the overwhelmed person adds to the panic. The person with high standards for their own response becomes the cool-headed center everyone funnels toward. That is where true opportunity and influence are built.
Your Action Protocol: Two Questions and One Mission
This is where we move from theory to practice. I want you to ask yourself two honest questions:
"What am I allowing into my life that no longer belongs?" (Habits, people, commitments, thoughts?)
"What standards need to raise so that my life becomes simpler?"
Clarity is the antidote to overwhelm. "When standards raise, clarity raises... And overwhelm begins to fall and fade away because you are back in control."
Here is your mission, as I laid out in the episode:
Pick ONE standard this week. Just one. It could be a time standard ("I stop work at 6 PM"), an energy standard ("I do not check email for the first hour of my day"), or an environmental standard ("I clear my desk every night"). Enforce it. Watch how that single raised bar begins to simplify everything around it.
The good news? "Standards are trained. They can be practiced. They can be enforced. It's not easy, but it is worth the effort."
Your life doesn't need to be stripped bare. It needs to be filtered intelligently. Raise your standards. Tighten your filter. Watch the overwhelm recede and your true priorities come into sharp, manageable focus.
Join us weekly for deep, unfiltered conversations about personal development, leadership, productivity, and excellence. Each episode is crafted to help you take initiative and unlock your full potential — both personally and professionally
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